Who brings more eyes to NASCAR? Cleetus or MJ?

I knew it when this very interesting thread was posted by wi_racefan that there were going to be some interesting posts by people who knew nothing about Cleetus McFarland and what he does. They still don't know lol.
Oh course all of them would have said no when Richard Childress called them and offered them a part time O'Reilly ride with the current O'reilly champions right? No thanks Richard I think I'll pass lol. :p
 
StandOnIt said:
I knew it when this very interesting thread was posted by wi_racefan that there were going to be some interesting posts by people who knew nothing about Cleetus McFarland and what he does. They still don't know lol.
Oh course all of them would have said no when Richard Childress called them and offered them a part time O'Reilly ride with the current O'reilly champions right? No thanks Richard I think I'll pass lol. :p
Click to expand...
Everyone knows Cleetus.
IMG_2169.jpeg
 
StandOnIt said:
Click to expand...

Thank God, somebody with some sanity finally stepped in. The approval process has been kind of a joke for a long time and this was just making it all the more obvious. If running three laps off the pace and nearly wrecking yourself about four times at Rockingham qualifies you to run at Talladega. Then what the hell are we even doing? I have absolutely nothing against him, and I hope he gets to do what he wants and succeeds at it, but let's be smart about this and not get him or somebody else hurt trying to prove a point
 
Personally it takes way more skill to race at Rockingham than Talladega. I think Nascar was up against a wall as they only had one race Rockingham to rate Cleetus's skill level so they made a good decision to save their most popular driver in the Nascar series going to a track where a large number of drivers will wreck anyway.
I think the number is around 60% average are involved in wrecks at plate tracks.
 
StandOnIt said:
Personally it takes way more skill to race at Rockingham than Talladega. I think Nascar was up against a wall as they only had one race Rockingham to rate Cleetus's skill level so they made a good decision to save their most popular driver in the Nascar series going to a track where a large number of drivers will wreck anyway.
I think the number is around 60% average are involved in wrecks at plate tracks.
Click to expand...
Talladega may require less skill, but mistakes tend to be magnified, and your mistakes have a far greater chance of impacting (pun intended) someone else, or a lot of someone elses. Now maybe we just accept some realities and take it as par for the course in the Truck Series, but I don't think O'Reilly is the place to LEARN how to drive a stock car.
 
Formerjackman said:
, but I don't think O'Reilly is the place to LEARN how to drive a stock car.
Click to expand...
I agree, but that wasn't his idea. Nascar's statement didn't just affect Cleetus's ability to drive in the O'Reilly series, but more importantly the team owner that offered him the opportunity in the first place.
Said it here.
 
We have seen enough experienced open wheel drivers come over and struggle and so many moving up take years to develop I think rushing anyone into a cup car is just a bad idea. SVG is a once in a generation global freak talent to have success so fast and even he can’t win on an oval…yet. I wouldn’t put Cleetus or MJ in a real race. At least Frankie Munoz is grinding his way up (too late but I respect him sticking with it). There are solid ways of developing someone as a driver. Social media fame doesn’t seem to be one of them. Practice and more practice.
 
StandOnIt said:
I knew it when this very interesting thread was posted by wi_racefan that there were going to be some interesting posts by people who knew nothing about Cleetus McFarland and what he does. They still don't know lol.
Oh course all of them would have said no when Richard Childress called them and offered them a part time O'Reilly ride with the current O'reilly champions right? No thanks Richard I think I'll pass lol. :p
Click to expand...

That's the point. People who don't know anything about him don't want to. And probably see him as a circus performer. I do.

Whatever eyes he brings doesnt have a significant impact on the sport, wont move the needle long term.
 
Cleetus can drive. He is a race track owner/promoter like Humpty Wheeler on steroids and he isn't going anywhere. The Freedom 500 race was sold out..again, and the winner Brian Deegan won a plane. Kenny Wallace was there for and in the race and said the place was full of Nascar fans. Looked right by me and a fun time for all when I watched parts of it that was posted on Youtube.
 
As I asked in the other thread, when did this change? Kyle Petty with only one ARCA race under his belt and made his Cup debut at Talladega , the pole speed was 193 mph and the cars handled nowhere near as good as they do now, the fastest pole for the United Rentals 250 at Talladega is 189mph, last year it was 182, and if we were to look back at all nascar races at Talladega we'll find a many drivers with little to no experience trying to qualify, so what's changed? The cars are slower, they handle better, there's no reason to deny Garrett the same thing many other drivers have tried to do in the past.
 
I think his qualifications to be racing in NASCAR's top series are separate from the original question of how many people he'll attract to NASCAR racing.

Note that this individual post doesn't express an opinion, pro or con, on either issue.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I think his qualifications to be racing in NASCAR's top series are separate from the original question of how many people he'll attract to NASCAR racing.

Note that this individual post doesn't express an opinion, pro or con, on either issue.
Click to expand...
Cool, if the mods deem it inappropriate for this thread they can delete it. 👍
 
Dwayne said:
As I asked in the other thread, when did this change? Kyle Petty with only one ARCA race under his belt and made his Cup debut at Talladega , the pole speed was 193 mph and the cars handled nowhere near as good as they do now, the fastest pole for the United Rentals 250 at Talladega is 189mph, last year it was 182, and if we were to look back at all nascar races at Talladega we'll find a many drivers with little to no experience trying to qualify, so what's changed? The cars are slower, they handle better, there's no reason to deny Garrett the same thing many other drivers have tried to do in the past.
Click to expand...
I understand your point. Saying cars weren't expensive back in whatever era of the past compared to today as an excuse to deny a driver to compete I have a problem with. In only a handful of years in the boom era that was possibly true, but who thinks the OEM's laid down in any era and said we are going to stop making more $peed?

I may be wrong but I think Nascar was scared that if Cleetus caused a wreck, that could damage Cleetus's popularity and hurt Nascar's draw in attendance and viewership Cleetus brings compared to his skill at a track that is undoubtedly one of the easiest tracks to drive.
 
Dwayne said:
As I asked in the other thread, when did this change? Kyle Petty with only one ARCA race under his belt and made his Cup debut at Talladega , the pole speed was 193 mph and the cars handled nowhere near as good as they do now, the fastest pole for the United Rentals 250 at Talladega is 189mph, last year it was 182, and if we were to look back at all nascar races at Talladega we'll find a many drivers with little to no experience trying to qualify, so what's changed? The cars are slower, they handle better, there's no reason to deny Garrett the same thing many other drivers have tried to do in the past.
Click to expand...
I get what your saying, but for safety's sake a lot has changed. They used to race back to the caution flag, there used to be no pit road speed limit, soft walls and Hans devices weren't even heard of, open faced helmets were permitted, pit crews wore jeans and ball caps...change does occur
 
DIDIT said:
I get what your saying, but for safety's sake a lot has changed. They used to race back to the caution flag, there used to be no pit road speed limit, soft walls and Hans devices weren't even heard of, open faced helmets were permitted, pit crews wore jeans and ball caps...change does occur
Click to expand...
Sorry that should have been in my post as well, the cars are much safer now, one more reason Garrett should be allowed to try and qualify at Talladega.
 
StandOnIt said:
I may be wrong but I think Nascar was scared that if Cleetus caused a wreck, that could damage Cleetus's popularity and hurt Nascar's draw in attendance and viewership Cleetus brings compared to his skill at a track that is undoubtedly one of the easiest tracks to drive.
Click to expand...
NASCAR's approval system is based entirely on track speed. Difficulty apparently has zippo to do with who gets a green light. As noted, Rockingham requires a more extensive skill set than Talladega.
 
A YouTuber with minimal stock car experience has no business in the Busch Series (or whatever they have this week) in the first place.
 
HoneyBadger said:
If Natalie Decker's allowed to compete, Cleetus McFarland should be allowed to compete.

Mike Wallace, who was not allowed to compete in the Daytona 500 last year, is more qualified than both.
Click to expand...
Wallace has 800 starts at the national level... denied
In 2025 Helio with no experience raced Daytona ARCA first, then was guaranteed made it by qualifying or not a spot in the Cup Daytona 500. :idunno:
 
StandOnIt said:
In 2025 Helio with no experience raced Daytona ARCA first, then was guaranteed made it by qualifying or not a spot in the Cup Daytona 500. :idunno:
Click to expand...
Helio had an I500 and two Rolex 24 wins within the previous three years, both of which are faster cars than Cup. Overall he had more recent experience than Mike.

I think if Mike had started trying to get approved earlier than he did, maybe run a few races late in 2024, he would have been good to go.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I think if Mike had started trying to get approved earlier than he did, maybe run a few races late in 2024, he would have been good to go.
Click to expand...

I'd trust Mike Wallace at 67 in a NASCAR ride over Helio Castroneves or Natalie Decker.

Also, Rockingham isn't a short track and shouldn't be considered such. With its banking and the speeds they run, Rockingham should count to get approval for Kansas City or even Talladega. And McFarland has raced at Daytona, so that, too, should count. NASCAR's granted approval for less experienced drivers without question.
 
HoneyBadger said:
I'd trust Mike Wallace at 67 in a NASCAR ride over Helio Castroneves or Natalie Decker.
Click to expand...
As I said, I think Mike would have been approved if he'd started working toward it earlier than he did.

I wouldn't trust Decker in the 25-cent race car in front of the grocery store.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
As I said, I think Mike would have been approved if he'd started working toward it earlier than he did.

I wouldn't trust Decker in the 25-cent race car in front of the grocery store.
Click to expand...

This isn't about whether Mike Wallace should have been approved. It's about the process in general.

Cleetus McFarland has competed at Daytona in NASCAR and ARCA, Rockingham in NASCAR and ARCA, as well as at Charlotte and Bristol in ARCA. Those starts at Rockingham and Charlotte should've been enough for McFarland to get approval for intermediate tracks such as Kansas City. His three starts at Daytona and Talladega should be enough for him to run the O'Reilly race at Talladega.

There are drivers with less experience in these cars being approved for NASCAR starts. There are drivers who get approval after running a handful of laps in ARCA.

I just don't think NASCAR has a leg to stand on denying approval for Cleeter when they allow Natalie Decker to compete. The fact that they didn't revoke her license after Daytona and make her go through a process for re-approval takes away a lot of credibility over other decisions to me.
 
That's why I said that Nascar was worried that Cleetus would wreck at Talladega and the haters would come out of the woodwork seriously diminishing not only their gate, but their precious rise in viewership they have been getting. So they are keeping him in the lower levels where they are setting records for attendance and he is doing well there with the easier competition.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom